Chettinad is a small region in Tamil Nadu famous widely known for its delicious cuisine which very well reflects the authentic flavors of South India. People from almost all around the world have become fond of all the Chettinad recipes specially the non-vegetarian dishes. Kara kulambu, a spicy and tangy tasting vegetarian curry is another specialty of this cuisine. Luckily my neighbor is from that region and I have learnt some basic recipes from her which I'll be sharing with you later. Check out my beetroot coconut masala/beetroot pirattal recipe, it was one special recipe that she taught me. But today's recipe is from my Mom who learnt it from a recipe book she had. I love this preparation not only because it is chicken, but also because of the flavors. This Chettinad chicken masala is a dry version and has awesome flavors due to the addition of fennel seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns. The masala powder made from these spices makes it too good and dry roasting these spices before grinding helps bring out the aroma and flavors very well. Goes well as sides with variety rice like pulao, biryani, fried rice, dal rice, sambar rice and also with chapatis and rotis. Lets see how to make this hot chicken masala. Try it out and let me know how you liked it. And thanks Mom for this wonderful recipe.

PREPARATION METHOD

Heat a pan or wok and dry roast the following ingredients very slightly until you get a pleasant aroma. Take care not to over roast them or burn them.

(For Masala Powder)1. Dry red chillies - 6 to 8

2. Cumin seeds - 3/4 spoon

3. Coriander seeds - 1 spoon

4. Fennel seeds - 1 spoon

5. Peppercorns - 1/4 spoon

After the dry roasted ingredients cools down and reaches room temperature, add them to a blender make a fine masala powder out of them and set aside. This is the authentic Chettinad chicken masala powder. You will get nearly 2.5 spoons of this masala powder.

Peel onions put them in a blender and make a coarse paste out of it and set aside.

Also make ginger-garlic paste and set aside.

Now heat a pan, add oil and after it heats up add the coarsely ground onions and saute until the raw smell goes.

Close the pan with a lid and cook until the chicken gets cooked well. Sprinkle water if necessary and stir occasionally so that the chicken does not get burnt. Please cook on low flame.

When water evaporates and chicken seems well cooked remove from flame and serve.

Garnish with coriander and curry leaves if you wish.

TIP 1: The masala powder used here can be used to make other chicken curries too. You can prepare it in larger quantities and store them for future use. While preparing this spice powder please be careful not to over-roast or burn the spices. Just a mild roasting will do.

TIP 2: Use freshly prepared ginger-garlic paste for better flavor.

TIP 3: You can also prepare this using a pressure cooker, after adding a cup of water close the pressure cooker with the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes on low flame. But the pan method will be the best.

TIP 4: If you want a semi-gravy consistency pour another cup of water and cook until the oil starts to peep out of the gravy.

Delicious and Flavorful Chettinad Chicken Masala is now ready!! Serve with rice or any Indian bread varieties and enjoy!!

Dear Amu thanks for the comment..But who said that chettinad recipes must contain marathi mogu and kal pasi, only some recipes from chettinad has these spices.. My neighbor is from Chettinad region and I have already clarified this doubt!! She cooks with spices and she said that marathu mogu is rarely added in their curries and that too sometimes only a pinch or so in Mutton curries... This was referred by her to my mom and now we cook it often, its not necessary to add marathi mogu in all chettinad recipes it has a very dominant aroma that might spoil recipes if you add it more!! She even makes simple carrot fry in chettinad style and she does not even add any spices there, will u say that its not a chettinad recipe? So no confusions here its a pretty good Chettinad recipe...

I tried this dish and because it contains no yogurt nor tomatoes, I used vinegar to grind the onions and garlic/ginger paste as this dish really needs some acid. At any rate, it was delicious and this is my go-to recipe for chicken curry now. My only question is that, by following your method, this chicken dish does not have the dark brown colored sauce that the pictures above have. My sauce was actually white! So I added some turmeric for color.

Hello Sulta, Thank you for trying and am glad you enjoyed the recipe. Color-wise, my dish turns out to be the same each time I prepare it. It is because of the dry red chillies you will get a nice reddish color. Am not sure what type of chilli you have used and also I have not mentioned vinegar anywhere, so that must have made a change. Thanks!!

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